Brian Cox: Cinema Is in a ‘Very Bad Way’ — and Marvel and DC Are to Blame

Harrison Richlin
·2 min read

Not one for keeping things to himself lately, “Succession” star Brian Cox is at it again, this time, lambasting Marvel and DC, claiming that superhero filmmaking has brought about a death of cinema. He’s not the only one to make this claim, but having been a part of popularizing these films with his role in “X2: X-Men United,” he may be able to recognize better than others how out of control the industry has gotten trying to cash in on them.

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Cox shared his thoughts on the state of cinema while speaking on a panel at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in his native Scotland, expressing his belief that television has surpassed cinema in terms of quality.

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“What’s happened is that television is doing what cinema used to do,” Cox said. “I think cinema is in a very bad way. I think it’s lost its place because of, partly, the grandiose element between Marvel, DC and all of that. And I think it’s beginning to implode, actually. You’re kind of losing the plot.”

Cox went on to explain how many actors are just in it because they’re “making a lot of money,” but that ultimately, what it’s doing to the art form is providing the “same old” stories over and over again. He even went as far as to reference Marvel’s most recent outing, “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

“So it’s just become a party time for certain actors to do this stuff,” said Cox. “When you know that Hugh Jackman can do a bit more, Ryan Reynolds … but it’s because they go down that road and it’s box office. They make a lot of money. You can’t knock it.”

This isn’t the only thing Cox thinks is wrong with the current state of filmmaking. Going further, he expressed his distaste with the current trend of casting directors relying on self-tapes to find fresh, new talent, a practice Cox believes prevents young actors from building “rapport” with those they audition for.

“Now, they want every young actor or actress to make their own self-tapes. They’ve got to make it without actually meeting anybody, and sometimes they never even get the fucking result, because they get ignored. They spend three days making a self-tape, which goes nowhere,” Cox said to the crowd at Edinburgh Film Festival. He added later, “It’s a terrible, terrible system. I wish it stopped. I wish we could get back to the individual relationship and that’s what art is about. It’s about relationships.”

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